When I Doubt, You're My Belief
by Kolbie Ru-Ru
Summary: Sakura goes back in time via a super secret time-travel-y jutsu and strives to save the world and all that good stuff - only this time around, "she" is a "he." Parody. Time Travel. No Pairings. Flashfic. [NOT to be taken too seriously.] Cover originally drawn by Pixiv Id 5006805 and edited for this fic by six fingers and counting.
1. never trust your elders

**Notes:** Sakura was due her own time travel fic, don't you think? (From me, I mean; she's already got tons from others) Anyway, this will be a flashfic/drabble fic because _IhavetoomanystoriesandIdon'twanttowritefullchaptersandwritingishardwhydoItorturemyselfIdaf-_

Enjoy.

_**EDIT: **_Okay, so apparently, Sakura's parents _are_ depicted, but it's only in the anime. So let's ignore that little detail, shall we? My headcanon involves her having a mom with pink hair and a dad with white hair, and that is what I will refer to.

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**I.**

"-and the members of Team 7 are Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke... and Haruno Byakuran," Iruka manages to get the words out with only a brief hiccup, and none of the students realize anything is amiss. He patiently counters Naruto's increasingly petulant protests, all the while eying the boy's teammates with no small amount of wariness.

He hadn't had much of an input in the team assignments, unfortunately. His own reports about their academic performances and temperaments and what not had been collected throughout the year, of course, and the higher ups had certainly taken them into consideration. Ultimately, however, the decision was up to them, and he can spot their influence all of over _this_ team's makeup.

The last Uchiha, the jinchuuriki, and the civilian prodigy – On paper, it sounds like the ideal team. With Sasuke's Sharingan and clan techniques, Naruto's overwhelming chakra and loyalty to the village, and Byakuran's intelligence and competence, Team 7 _should _have the potential for greatness.

"But Sasuke-teme is just gonna drag me down! And Flower Boy doesn't ever _do_ anything! How am I supposed to become Hokage like this, Iruka-sensei?!" Naruto bellows, pointing accusingly at the aforementioned boys. Byakuran has his nose buried in an advanced book (on medical jutsu, of course; the kid's been studying techniques far above his peers since he'd joined the Academy), and Sasuke has his patented scowl directed firmly at the window. Neither of them seem to be paying any attention to Naruto's perceived crisis.

Resisting the urge to rub his temples to ward off the oncoming headache, he frowns at the boy and points out sternly, "The Hokage has to be able to work well with _every_one, Naruto – not just the people he likes. You're never going to have your face on that mountain if you can't even do _this_ without acting like a child."

The boy's face falls – and Iruka feels a twinge of guilt; he'd only _just_ gotten Naruto to open up to him – but his grin is back in full force as he declares loudly, banging a hand on the desk, "Alright! I don't care _who's_ on my team 'cause we're gonna be the best! And _I'm _gonna become Hokage one day. Believe it!"

Sasuke snorts derisively, and Kiba begins to taunt him while the others simply roll their eyes at his big words. Iruka smiles fondly at him, inwardly wondering at _his_ ability to pretend this kid wasn't just a normal, hardworking student for so many years when it's so blatantly obvious. He grimaces as the room is overcome with bickering and quickly regains control when he threatens to hold them back in his class for another year.

He smiles brightly at all of their worried, little faces – almost all of them, that is. Naruto, frankly, looks outraged. Sasuke has turned his death glare up to maximum power. (If the boy ever makes it to jounin, Iruka _might_ be inclined to quiver in his sandals. For now, he simply finds it adorable, if not humorous.) Byakuran, however, is simply regarding his peers with barely concealed amusement.

Iruka moves onto the rest of the teams, but he continues to muse over the topic of team 7. On _paper_, it's the wonder team of the entire graduating class, even including the other two teams comprised of future clan heads. In _reality_, the three of them are more likely to fail their sensei's test or - if by some miracle, they manage to pass – be utterly incapable of completing _D-Ranks_. Sasuke is entirely too haughty and full of himself to deign to work with the other two, Naruto will probably spend most of his time picking fights with Sasuke, and Byakuran will most likely ignore the both of them and focus solely on his own training, as he is wont to do.

It's a walking disaster, and Iruka _almost_ pities the fool who has to deal with them – only considering what fool it _is_, he's more concerned about his students' well-beings, which, honestly, says it all.

Clearly, the Council is plotting the destruction of its own village or, at the very least, attempting to drive its people into insanity.

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**End Notes: **"Byakuran" means "White Orchid", by the way. (I kind of stole it from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Sorry not sorry. xD) The idea is that Sakura goes back in time, but she somehow changes gender in the transition. Sound familiar? It happens to Naruto in fics all the time. I don't ever read those, actually, but I still kind of wanted to see one where it happened to Sakura. Also, she's born with her dad's white hair, hence the name.


	2. gonna need some ice for that burn

**II.**

"My name is Haruno Byakuran," the boy reveals, casually, not at all like Sasuke-teme's chilling introduction or Naruto's own cheerful words.

His classmate - teammate, now, he supposes - has always befuddled the blonde. People generally treat him in only one of three ways - as if they're suspicious and distrustful (most of the villagers), annoyed and exasperated (most of his peers), or fond and indulgent (the Old Man and now Iruka-sensei.) Byakuran, however, has never glared at him, or turned his nose up at him, or acted as if he doesn't even exist (which is by far the worst of the three.) If anything, the white-haired boy had always seemed amused by Naruto's antics.

Whenever they'd been forced to sit next to one another, the boy hadn't ever sneered or seemed uncomfortable; he'd simply quietly accepted Naruto's presence. The Hokage-to-be can't claim the two of them to be friends, but he hadn't been _really_ angry they'd been assigned the same team, either. He'd just been surprised that he'd been paired up with _Sasuke-teme_ (mostly because the boy can get on his nerves like no other) and then immediately after because they'd been the only all-male team. Thinking about it now, however, Naruto can see the bright side of this particular arrangement; no female member _also _means no _Sasuke_ _fangirl_, and the boy can't find it in himself to be upset about that.

Lips quirked in his usual easy grin, Byakuran goes on, "I like anko dumplings, helping people, and the Will of Fire." Naruto vaguely recalls the lesson they'd been taught on Konoha's main belief back at the Academy. Hadn't it been about their reasons for fighting? Not noticing the boy's brief lapse in attention, his new teammate divulges, scowling now, "I dislike anything spicy, and I _can't forgive_ anyone who would abandon their comrades for something as petty as revenge."

At this, the jounin's eyebrows raise slightly in interest, and Sasuke, who hadn't seemed to be paying attention before, whips his head around to glare at Byakuran. Said boy doesn't even twitch under that heated gaze, keeping his eyes on their sensei. "I _will _become the strongest, and," Here, he glances at Naruto, "I wouldn't say 'no' to being the Hokage, either."


	3. we're training, yo

**Notes: **How can you guys even read this? _It's so short._ I did not expect so many reviews for this thing. Nevertheless, thanks! You guys are awesome~!

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**III.**

"What are you doing?" He demands, curiosity overcoming his pride. "And how are you doing it?" He adds, after a beat.

It's been well over an hour since they'd met up, and even Sasuke's patience is wearing thin. For the past week, Team 7 had been meeting around five in the morning at the same training grounds, and they'd fallen into an annoying pattern. Although Kakashi-sensei had proven he actually _is _a capable shinobi during their survival test (despite all evidence to the contrary), his apparent routine tardiness is completely unacceptable. Sasuke needs to become _stronger_, but instead he's stuck wasting over a quarter of the day waiting around only for the man to appear and smugly force them to do those godforsaken D-ranks.

His question had been prompted because the pattern had been broken today. Usually, Sasuke will be the first to arrive, right on time, and he'll spend the majority of that time in silence. Byakuran will stroll into the clearing shortly afterwards, nod a greeting to the Uchiha, and then settle down in the grass with a scroll or book. And then, at some point, Naruto will run into view with a sheepish grin and an apology before he promptly flops to the ground and either starts a conversation with Byakuran or dozes off.

Today, however, the white-haired boy was not only tardy, but rather than gravitate toward the center, he moved straight toward a particularly tall tree _and began walking up the bark_. Sasuke has seen older shinobi do much the same with buildings, but he'd never thought to learn it himself. The ease with which Byakuran had performed the jutsu - no hesitation whatsoever - leads him to believe that the other boy had done it before and was only - practicing?

"I'm trying to increase my chakra reserves," He replies, with visible annoyance, as he reaches the top of the tree and turns around and walks back down it again. Sparing the Uchiha a glance, he goes on, "I'm just focusing chakra to the bottom of my feet and using it to stick to the tree."

Frowning, Sasuke says, "That wasn't taught to us at the Academy." Because it definitely wasn't. He'd remember something like that, surely.

"That is correct." At his scowl, Byakuran grins unrepentantly, but he divulges, "I'm teaching myself medical ninjutsu, which is extremely difficult, by the way; this is nothing compared to that. _Any_way, supposedly, if one learns_ this_ technique, one should be able to use _any_ jutsu - mainly because the feet are the hardest places to focus chakra." Here, he shrugs. "Well, that's what they say. It's ridiculously easy for _me _to do since I have perfect chakra control, but I digress."

Sasuke resists the urge to roll his eyes. "So you're using the jutsu to increase your reserves instead."

"Yup."

He stands there, debating with himself for a moment, but he finally asks, "Would you teach it to me?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know it, Sasuke-kun," Byakuran points out, expression at odds with his words. "But, yeah, sure, I'll help you." At this, he jumps down and lands lightly on the ground.

As he does so, Sasuke thinks he hears, _"S'not like that lazy bastard's going to do it"_ but he dismisses it almost immediately and instead focuses on mastering the Tree Walking technique - _especially _when the Idiot eventually shows up and declares he'll do so first. Ha! As if.

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**End Notes: **Theoretically, doing chakra exercises over and over again should increase one's reserves, right? If not, then I'm claiming _AU, suckers__!_ and going about my business.


	4. time travel and a different kind of love

**Notes: What. No. I DID NOT MEAN TO UNLOAD ALL OF THIS ANGST. WHY. I SKIPPED KAKASHI BECAUSE ANGST.**

_**I CAN'T ESCAPE IT.**_

_**(p.s. thanks for all of the reviews and favs/follows!)**_

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**IV.  
**

She doesn't know how she ended up here.

By 'here', she means _the past - _only it's now her _present_, and she isn't even a _she _anymore.

(Unbidden, her hand flies to her short, _white_ hair_._)

She'd been content, in the version of the world that will now exist only in her memories. And if not that, then she'd been _alright, thanks_ because they'd fought and fought and _fought_, and they'd _won_ the war against Madara and old beliefs and _hatred_. Naruto had prevailed, Sasuke had come back, Kakashi had overcome his demons, and Team 7 had finally, _finally _been whole again.

And then, they weren't.

Sasuke had been in self-imposed exile. Naruto had had the weight of more than one village on his shoulders and a romance to pursue. Kakashi had taken on the mantle of Hokage and all of the duties and time-consumption that came with it. Sai had become infatuated with her once best friend, and Yamato had become busier than ever with rebuilding. And she... She'd been stuck waiting on a love with no foundation or cause and no real expectation of reciprocation. It had seemed, to her, that her team members had all moved forward without her _again_ when she'd worked _so, so hard_ to catch up to them.

Then, one day, she'd woken up as _Haruno Byakuran_, and everyone else had seemed so very young and fragile. The male genitalia had embarrassed her, at first, but she couldn't have possibly become a med-nin if the human body - no matter the gender - bothered her. She quickly became accustomed to the new identity, but in the privacy of her thoughts, Sakura lived on. (_Because if she never existed, never breathed and lived and laughed and loved, then, _what_ had been the _point_?_)

And she had her _boys_ back. Naruto was just as she remembered - lively and loud and bright. Sasuke, on the other hand, was most certainly not the 'cool, mysterious, dark' crush she had known; instead, he was (not _just_, never _just_) a lonely, intelligent little child, and upon seeing his tiny face, she felt none of the despairing 'love' of her unmade future, but an overwhelming fondness - for both of them, for all of her friends-turned-children.

When Naruto was causing more of a scene than usual, when Sasuke secretly preened under the attention of someone he deemed strong, when Ino (rather unexpectedly) began avidly seeking out her attention, when Kiba used Akamaru as an excuse to get out of doing homework, when Shikamaru fell asleep in class, when Chouji not-so-subtly began snacking during a lesson, when Hinata also not-so-subtly watched Naruto, when Shino asked and answered his own questions, she could only grin helplessly. These are the people she loves, all around her; what more does she need?

Eventually, the novelty of time travel fades, and she begins to plan. What had gone wrong last time? (She resists the urge to write _Everything_.) What could she possibly change? Team 7 was a trouble magnet; even she can admit that much. That wouldn't stop her from making sure that her team remains the same, however. She writes down a list - careful to use codewords even if she's sure her civilian parents wouldn't understand and no one would snoop through her bedroom - and takes a moment to study her handiwork.

_1\. Make sure family is the same.  
_

_2\. Slap Kei-kun if he tries to leave again._

_3\. Slap Kei-kun anyway because that boy has too much angst._

_4\. Take care of enemies.  
_

Perfect.

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**End Notes: ****Here's the DL with Byakuran. Sorry there aren't any interactions, but at least you have her/his side of the story. I decided to use 'her' when writing Byakuran's POV since I don't think that even in this bizarre situation someone could change their gender identity so easily. Also, Ino having a crush on him/her is **Suzululu4moe's** idea. I might throw in an Ino POV at some point since this is apparently a thing. **

**This fic won't have any pairings, but since I'm attempting to draw from canon, Past Naruto/Hinata will probably continue to be referenced, as will, perhaps, Sasuke/Sakura.  
**


	5. Kakashi knows everything, even that

**V.**

"Maa, isn't _this_ interesting?" He says innocuously just as Naruto attempts to take Sasuke down from behind - a move, while not particularly innovative, is sometimes effective and probably would have been this time had Kakashi not interrupted. Of course, that's exactly why he _had_, but that's neither here nor there.

Instead, Naruto fumbles and falls to the ground with a loud _"Oomp!"_, and Sasuke easily sidesteps the boy. Byakuran moves over to help the blonde to his feet, smiling indulgently. "You almost had him, Naruto."

Sasuke scoffs none too politely at this, but before Naruto opens his mouth to start yet another argument between the two, the masked man coughs pointedly.

The trio then turn their attention onto him, and Kakashi makes sure to let a little disappointment trickle into his expression. "Here I am, creating a training regime that will suit each of your respective strengths and weaknesses all the while allowing you three to get used to one another and working as a team through D-Ranks and lax days, and what do I find?" He pauses for dramatic effect, thoroughly enjoying the mixture of guilt and irritation bubbling between the three of them, before continuing petulantly, "You've gone off on your own and begun without me."

"Well, it's not like _you_ ever tell _us_ anything! How were we supposed to know you weren't just goofing off and reading porn?!" Naruto finally blurts out, agitated. It's almost impressive how long he'd been silent, given his usual tendency to talk over everyone. Still an annoying trait, though.

Kakashi schools what's visible of his expression into a stern look that is not entirely fake as he points out, "Sasuke may have his Clan background and Byakuran, what he's learned from studying; but you're all still just _children. _The exercises you've been doing _are_ simple enough, but without proper guidance, one of you could have gotten seriously hurt. There's a reason genin are assigned a jounin leader; it's so they can learn jutsu without worry of injuries or of learning it incorrectly." Or, that's one of the reasons, anyway.

He goes on, needing to impress the severity of this situation upon them, "I've been observing you for the past week, hoping one or all of you would come to me with questions or to at the very least inform me of the private sessions, but needless to say, none of you did." Naruto winces a bit, and Sasuke's rigid stance betrays his emotions. Byakuran is not regarding them with amusement, for once; he's been grimacing since Kakashi began berating them.

Sighing, the jounin explains, "Teamwork and training are important, true, but you also need to have the motivation to succeed as a shinobi. We, as teachers, are supposed to constantly test your determination, as well as your strength and intelligence. The life of a ninja is nothing _but_ challenges against your worth, your resolve, and your beliefs. Remember that." They each nod dutifully, and he smiles a bit. "I have to admit, none of us thought this through very well. I had decided not to train you seriously until _you asked me_. But then you go and train by yourselves instead."

He huffs a derisive laugh, divulging, "You guys remind me of myself as kid. Maybe this is what I deserve." His most astute student levels him with a sad look, and the masked man wonders if the boy has come to his own conclusion about Kakashi's past. Nevertheless, his disapproving demeanor dissipates, and he practically chirps, "I guess that means I'll just have to up the difficulty." The boys perk up at this declaration, and he watches with sadistic glee as their expressions morph into ones of terror at his subsequent instructions.

As much as it pains him to even think it, Gai was right when he'd painted teaching the next generation as a golden opportunity. He can't wait until his cute, little students begin begging him for a break. The three of them pale even further at the smirk on his face, and he cheerfully announces that their new training will begin today.


End file.
